31 Days Of Horror (Day 1) - Homecoming (2009)

Homecoming is a 2009 horror, thriller Starring Mischa Barton (The O.C, The Bunker) Jessica Stroup (The Hills Have Eyes 2, 90210)and Matt Long.

When Mike brings his new girlfriend Elisabeth (Stroup) back to his hometown to meet his family and old friends from before he went off to college, they bump into Mikes ex girlfriend Shelby (Barton). After pleasantries, Shelby takes matter into her own hand in order to win back the man she loves and she will take no prisoners.

I first saw Homecoming probably in 2011. I wanted to see the film because, and I will admit this openly, I was and still am (to an extent) a Mischa Barton fan. I was a fan of her work in The O.C and loved that show even after she left. So when I kept seeing her pop up in odd horror films such as Into the Dark (AKA I Will Follow You Into The Dark) and Walled in I made it a point to seek them out. With this one I was so pleasantly surprised with how genuinely good this film was. Lets face it Mischa Barton does not have a good track record with films in general, however her recent achievement in The Bunker (The Hoarder) totally made me remember why I loved this film so much.

For the most part I can honestly say that Mischa Barton was great in this and I think she really needs to get her act together and do more films like this. Jessica Stroup whom I have not seen in much although know of her from such films as Hills Have Eyes 2. I did see her in the Prom Night remake with Brittany Snow – but we shall not talk about that film.

Stroup done fantasticly well and I thought they had great on screen presence. I honestly can not believe how great Mischa was in this compared to some for her other work. I do think this si a film she should be proud of as it show cases exactly how good an actress she is. Granted I am not saying any one in this film was Oscar worthy at all, I am just saying for the type of film this was everyone done a great job.

This film is sort of a re telling of the Misery story and again I think that was a real draw factor for me when going into this film. I think weather these actors were in it or not I still would have watched this film (as it was on UK Netflix for a while) at some point.

Now lets not forget about Matt Long – brother of actor Justin Long, who stared in the cult classic jeepers creepers. He was again very good for this type of film.

I found myself enjoying this film way to much and I think the main reason was that I didn’t expect much at all so when I seen that the film was actually very good I was really pleased and in fact even shared it with friends who also really enjoyed it.

I think this is a must for all Halloween season horror lists by far. I would say watch it earlier in the month as I would class it more as a Thriller than a horror. I think that if you are looking for a modern re imagining of Misery this has you covered.

Really stand out film across the board, really nothing bad to say about ti. It was short and sweet as well running at about 91 minutes long, which I felt was the perfect length for this kind of film.

There wasn’t really a moment that I felt bored or like the pace was slow. I actually found myself unable to stop watching it. Its just an overall great horror film for the Halloween season and I can not recommend this film enough.

Be sure to check your countries Netflix but I would say this will be worth your money on DVD.